How to Get Through a Hard Time

Not everything bad that happens to you is God trying to form himself inside of you.

Too many Christians, they're actually just reaping the harvest off of their own bad decisions.

No, a lot of stuff that happens to people is not at all from God.

It's a consequence of their own decisions or it's a demonic attack and that should be withstood.

Not tools that God uses to perfect you.

Heaven is not so bankrupt that it must rely on the tools and resources of hell to perfect the saints.

Welcome to the City Light Church podcast.

Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us.

If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com

that's citylightnyc.com.

Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds.

As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God,

that you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

I want to just pray for what's happening in Iran because it's the Christian thing to do.

It's what we're commanded to do in the Bible and so we're to pray.

What does the Bible say to pray for kings, for rulers, for all who are in authority and there's

a reason why we're supposed to pray? The Bible says that we could live a peace of a life,

go about in godliness, and most importantly that the word of God would have free course.

Hallelujah. But I just got to say that I don't love that we're there.

It's why do you have to say that? I hear this. You'd be surprised how much gets back to me.

Why doesn't passage just preach the gospel? That's what he's supposed to do.

Because it's all intertwined. You don't want to hear what I have to say,

but you listen to every meme that algo feeds you? You develop your worldview from a bunch of memes,

and that's how you form your opinion on what's happening. Some of you don't even have an opinion

until you're told what your opinion should be. Look what happened. We're bombing Iran.

Quick, let me see how I should feel about this. What does my tribe say I ought to feel about?

Come on, you know it's true. And if we're to go to war, I think it's a fair question to ask,

how does this benefit me? How does this benefit the average? I mean, if we're going to war,

of course it's not called a formal war, but you know what I mean? We've had many wars,

there weren't called wars, with no formal declaration of war. But how does this benefit the average

citizen? It doesn't. And then of course you should not like being lied to. And so one of the

main reasons we were told we're doing this in Iran is because of an imminent nuclear threat,

right? That wasn't just me who saw that. It was repeated over and over again.

Yet it wasn't even that long ago in the summertime. Remember when we sent that bunker buster?

And the next day all the news and government officials were reporting that we sent their nuclear

program back decades. But then six months later it's an imminent threat.

God, you see, you're wondering what I'm saying or a lot of people want to go to war here.

Hallelujah. But what we want to pray is that in the midst of a great mess,

God would still bless that he would get in there and somehow behind the scenes work it out

for his glory. Amen. Hallelujah. But we shouldn't get excited. I mean we're not defending anything.

We're not being invaded.

And lives are being lost.

So what's our responsibility? Our responsibility is to pray. Hallelujah.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, you are infinitely wise. You are all together mighty

and we pray that your plans and your purposes would be wrought forth, that you would arrange it

and change it and organize it so that this is good for the kingdom and this is good for the

propagation of the gospel and this is good for the king's reign and for righteousness.

Father, we pray that you would move upon governmental leaders here and abroad

that they would be swayed and moved by the Holy Spirit and we believe the blood of Jesus.

Father, that we would have a peace of life, that we would be able to walk with you in

godliness and that the word of God would have free course. In Jesus name, amen. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. I mean on the bright side, if you were looking for maybe a little pieter,

one bedroom condo in Dubai, now is the time. Now I've had my eye on one for a while and I hear

it's up to 70% off right now. So last week during that terrible, terrible blizzard,

I was so proud of you. This place was packed second service last week. You all said,

blizzard, smizzard, I'm going to church. You know, I was saying I'm preparing a message

on the sons of Ishikar who had an understanding and discernment of the times and the seasons

that they lived in and I'd like to announce to you this morning that I'm still preparing it.

And when I finally do preach it one day and I pray that day would be next Sunday,

you'll understand why because it will challenge all of us

and my goal is for us to be an awakened and alert people and to know what's happening in this

world around us, to know what forces are pushing us and manipulating us and the sad realities is

that not too many people are awakened and they're not alert. You know, media is lying on stop so

where do you get your news information from? Well, it's a lot harder. You've got to get it from

all different sources. You have to know the overarching agenda and then you got to take it by

piecemeal and figure it out yourself. But most people are too passive and lazy, frankly, to do that.

So they just go feed me and tell me what I should know and how I should feel about it.

And then they wonder why their life is stuck and why it seems like they're constantly in a swirl

and they can't figure out what's happening. Then they just get angry. It's for us to know and to have

an understanding of the times and the seasons that we're with and once again, too many people,

they get their entire global ends, their entire world view, they may not even be aware of it

from a collection of memes. You know why memes are so powerful? That always was powerful. If you go

back hundreds of years, I mean, this country used memes but just not digital ones. It was sad

tire cartoons to rebel to form this nation and to rebel against Britain. That war was one

through memes. Amen. So you can look them up. You can see the little sad tire cartoons,

those illustrators back then. So that's my long wife saying I won't be preaching what I promised

I'd be preaching. But the good news is I have a message for you. And I was wrestling this week.

Oh, what should I do? And then finally the Lord spoke through my wife. He did. And she said,

you know, people are really hurting. And I'm very aware of that. And I want to minister to those

who are in a place of pain. Maybe you're hurting so much. You're like, I don't want to have an

understanding of the times and the seasons and just I'm in the pit and I want some hope that I'm

going to get out of the pit. Good news. You came to the right Sunday service because I'm preaching on

how to get through a hard time. And that's just like my PG version of the title. I mean,

really what I should call it is how to overcome a crisis that feels like it's going to kill you.

How to get through a hard time. Amen. Number one. And I got 10 of these with 10 corresponding

scriptures. Number one, here's a starting point, except in your heart that it's part of your

calling. Amen. It's part of the call. First Peter 412. We got to stop being shocked by difficulty.

Amen. Fire is not foreign to faith. Fire is formative to faith. And first Peter, I mean,

Peter wrote in first Peter, not knowing that there would be a second Peter, but he wrote,

beloved, do not think it's strange. Now, wonder why he said that. He said that because many of us

think it's strange. Whenever it's not easy street, whenever we don't feel like we're on vacation,

when it's difficult, we go, wow, I wonder why. You know, and that's right then where you go on

social media and everybody's throwing their top picks, you're going, man, everybody's got it's

so easy. And nobody's hurting. And nobody's suffering. By me, I can barely get up out of the

morning. And what's wrong? Don't think it's strange. And don't believe the hype you see on social

media. All that glitters is not gold. In fact, the more positive someone's social media is,

the more I get concerned, right? Past your mouth. Because it's usually the couple that's

incestantly posting, oh, we're here. Oh, now we're here. Look at us. We're just having them.

And then we got a call. We're getting divorced. What?

Amen. But anyway, keep your eyes off of others.

Someone's like, Pastor, your social media is pretty positive. I know. I'm crying out for help.

Somebody come and minister to me. You don't know what we're going through.

Beloved. Do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as those

some strange thing happened to you. Now, very important to distinguish. Most suffering is not

from God. Not everything bad that happens to you is God trying to form himself inside of you.

That's reality. And too many Christians, they're actually just reaping the harvest off of their

own bad decisions. And then ago, God is pushing me through the fire to get me refined as gold.

No. A lot of stuff that happens to people is not at all from God. It's the consequence of their

own decisions or it's a demonic attack. And that should be withstood. Amen. Sickness disease,

not tools that God uses. Freak accidents, devastation, not tools that God uses to perfect you.

Amen. Heaven is not so bankrupt that it must rely on the tools and resources of hell to

perfect the saints. But there are trials. There are tribulations. There are difficult times.

Jesus said, in this world, you will have tribulations. But fear not for I have overcome the world.

So at times, we will feel like we're getting squeezed. At times, we will feel like it's just

difficult to put one foot in front of the other. And when that happens, number one, don't think it's

strange. Don't think that you're weird. What did you do to deserve this? But understand that there

is a formation from the Lord. And you really will come out better once you get through it.

Probably the most difficult season of my life. At least top three was the first five to seven

years of city life church. So we're going over 24 years ago. Actually, it'll only be 24. I keep

rounding up to 25 because quarter of a century has a nice ring to it. But I've been in full-time

ministry nearly 26 years, 25 years presently. But city life will be 24. March the 17th.

We'll be 24. That means like in human terms, we just came out of college and are wondering like how

to make sense of this world. Amen. Just trying to get our bearings at 24. But that was a difficult

season. You say, how did you feel? This is what I tell people. I felt all the time like my

intestines were coming out of my nostrils. That's how I felt. I felt like I was pressed on every

side. And did I still find pleasure in something? Yeah, I had those times. But my default state was,

God, help me. Because I feel like I'm perishing. Very uncomfortable. But now,

now I've learned so much through that agonizing season. And I've allowed him through that

season to do a spiritual formation in me that now certain things that would normally bother me,

don't bother me at all. And he uses these seasons to get you to a place where you can actually

grow and withstand the magnitude of the blessing that he wants to put on you. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. You know his way is glory to glory. His way is promotion to promotion.

God, can you can we just agree on that? There's a lot of people who think that God is just like

he's content to put a seedling in the ground and then just watch it stand still. That's not how

we built this earth. That's not how we built this universe. That seedling will grow and grow. And out

of an acorn will become a mighty oak tree. Amen. His way is progress. His way is growth. His way is

abundance and prosperity. He wants you growing. He wants you expanding. There's just one problem.

And a wise philosopher, ancient man by the name of Biggie Smalls. He really hit the bullseye when

he said, mo money, mo problems. And I found that to be true. Mo fame, mo problems,

mo influence, mo problems, mo of anything, mo problems. So what, what is a Christian to do?

When you embrace the process, it won't be mo problems. He will work himself out in you so that

you can withstand and carry the magnitude of the blessing he wants to bring your way. Hallelujah.

How many of you, you know what I'm talking about? And look back on the past trial now you're

through. And if I asked you, hey, if you could hit a button and make that trial, never to have

happened, would you hit that button? Say louder. You wouldn't hit that button because you know

you're better having come through. Your capacity is larger. Capacity is an important thing.

Solomon is, I don't preach about Solomon as enough. Solomon is awesome. Solomon did great things

for the Lord. But before he did any of those things, the Bible says that God gave him

largeness of heart. What is that? His internal capacity. You know, some people don't have a big

capacity. They're content to just go sit in a cubicle and say, don't overwhelm me with anything

more. But God wants to stretch your capacity so he can give you more and do more through you.

And so before Solomon went on and became king and built a temple and his empire was vast,

God gave him largeness of heart. He stretched out his inward capacity. You look at maybe you have

heroes who are entrepreneurs and billionaires and you know, they're not chilling out playing

Xbox all day. They're like living the life of eight people in one life. They have a huge inward

capacity and you're not going to get that from a book. You're going to get it from the Lord.

Amen. You can you can pray that per Lord what you did in Solomon doing me. Give me largeness

of heart. Hallelujah. Number two, you got to fix your eyes. You can't fix your circumstances.

You got to fix your eyes. Hebrews 12 12. Hebrews 12 12 12 12 to excuse me looking unto Jesus the

author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was said before him endured the cross

despisingly shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The key part of that

verse in this context is looking unto Jesus because what you behold you will become.

And I've been around the world now over 50 nations and I've heard this when I was in

Bible school and I thought I wonder if that's true and I found it to be true that people groups

like we were just up in the Mayan Mountains, not normal Guatemala, Indigenous, direct descendants of

the Mayans, Yisheel people, they have a different physiognomy. They look different. I heard it said

that people who worship idols who worship false gods over time they begin to actually look and

resemble like the idols that they worship. And if you look at mine idols they look a lot square

heads short and stature. I just say things like it's 1982 I don't care but it'll help you.

You become like what you behold. And so Satan's job is to get you to look at the circumstances.

When Jesus was walking on the water, Peter, he was the only one so bold. He said, I want to walk

on water. Master, tell me to, Peter was smart. He knew that if you got the word of the Lord he could

stand on the word of the Lord. He said, bid me to come. And Jesus, he just gave him one word, come.

And Peter leaps out of the boat. I know in the paintings they showed like a little canoe,

all 12 of them. It wasn't a canoe on that giant lake which is really a sea. It was a large boat,

it was high. Peter could have jumped anywhere from 10 to 15 feet off to land on the water.

And he didn't sink. He stood. What was he standing on? Not really the water. He was standing on

Jesus' word, come. And whenever you do something, whenever you're standing supernaturally you'll

be standing on the word of the Lord for your life. That's why the word of the Lord is key.

That's why we got scriptures for every single point or that's why we had managed you to

know the word, be biblically literate because the word is what upholds you and sustains you, amen.

Nothing to really do with this sermon, but it's a good thing to interject anytime.

But Peter is now standing, right? There's a storm. Peter standing on the word, Jesus come.

So he's walking on water. And then the Bible says something interesting. It says, when he saw

the wind, boisterous. So he pictured Jesus and Peter, and Peter is walking toward Jesus.

And as long as he's looking at Jesus, walking towards him, he's walking supernaturally on water.

But then the wind started to whip past his head. It started to howl and he saw the height of the waves.

And he took his eyes off of Jesus and he saw the wind boisterous. And instantly he began to sink

because he took his eyes off of Jesus. And Jesus being Jesus, of course, so loving, grabbed his arm,

hoisted him back up. But the lesson in there is to look at Jesus.

And the devil will try to get you to look at the problem. Look at the problem. What is anxiety?

It is a constant meditation on the problem. But look at Jesus. So how do you do that?

You got to figure out for yourself how that works for you. I can share what works for me.

There's several things that work for me. One thing that I found is when I'm going through it,

we're not talking about your normal walk with the Lord. We're not talking about when you feel

like your back is against the wall. I will come and I will just be before the Lord for five,

ten minutes. If you can go longer, congratulations, I can go longer. I'm just saying five to ten

minutes, you can do many of those sets. You know, you can do one a day, ten sets of ten.

You go to pray and you just behold him. Just behold him. Just look at him. Now when I say,

look at him, I'm not imagining, I'm not picturing Catholic Jesus. I'm not imagining a white man

with a brown beard, long flowing hair. Who are you imagining? I don't know. I don't know what he

looked like. But you know what I'm talking about if you've done it. You're still beholding him.

You're beholding his beauty. You're beholding his history with you. His nature has revealed in

the scriptures. His character has revealed in the scriptures. You just go to pray and you're thinking

you're thinking to him. You're meditating. I didn't even go, you're the one who saved me.

You're the one who came from heaven to earth. You're the one who bled for me. You're the one who made

all these promises in the Old Testament and then fulfilled every single one. Not one of your words

has fallen to the ground. You're faithful and you'll be faithful to me. Yes, you're that one. You're

the one who knows the end from the beginning. You're the one who holds the universe in your hand

and you hold me in your hand. Oh, I behold you. I look at you. I behold you. I'm looking onto

Jesus, the author and the finisher of my faith. Can you do that? Yes, you can. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Beholding him. Glance at your problems. Stir at him. Hallelujah.

Number three, this is important. Guard your mind ruthlessly. Your mind is where the battle is.

Consequently, your mind has to become like a steel trap.

Have you ever seen a bear trap? You know the word for anyway, I won't get it today.

It's another sermon. You see a bear trap? That's how your mind has to be.

Like a steel trap because truly the battle is in the mind. Isaiah 26, 3,

the peace is not random. It is guarded, focused.

Your mind cannot be parked on fear all week and expect peace on Sunday.

So you've got to discipline your thoughts or they will dominate you. The Bible says you will keep

him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

So it was exactly two years ago, two years ago in a month ago, it was January going into early

February, before Guatemala, but all the January of 2024. And I've shared this before and I just,

I'm amazed at how much I share and people keep coming and the church keeps growing.

And I just, like I shared, and isn't that amazing? And they still care about what I have to

preach. It's amazing. But I shared two years ago, I started getting hit in my mind and in my

emotions. And I don't mean a little. I mean a lot. How many of you remember where for the whole

month of January in Nathaniel, three weeks, three Sundays in a row, Nathaniel was preaching here?

I got to say this with love. He did that not because I love to hear and preach three Sundays

in a row. He did that because in my brain it was jambalaya soup because all I heard like an

incessant broken record on repeat was you're going to fail, you're going to fail. And what was

happening was you guys know this investment that I had gotten heavily in. I was down 50 percent on

it. And all I kept hearing in my head was you are going to wreck your whole family financially.

So it was so incessant that as Nathaniel was preaching and I told him this, as soon as he was on

I said, this is what I was thinking about the whole time. I'm trying to get it out of my head.

All I was doing was math in my head. Literally, you know how the movies they show the genius,

except I'm not a genius. And I was doing that. And I was going, okay, I can make it to March.

And then April and then by May, all right, that's when it's going to get ugly. And then I started

thinking I'll have to give up the house in Long Island. So we'll go to the cabin in the woods

that we have in the Poconos. And then half an hour away from there in the town of Honestale is

a super Walmart. And I'll work in the Walmart. I'm so glad you're laughing. So that was Satan's idea,

right? And it's hilarious, but for me it was a good idea. Come on, anybody can't really,

for me it was a good idea at the time. Like I thought I actually was thinking that.

By the way, two months after that, I wasn't down minus 50 percent. It had gone into the multiple

seven figures. God completely, completely redeemed it. But, amen. But I was going for, we would go on

many walks. That was what, because I can't sit still, right? If you sit still, if you're not,

you got to move when the enemy's attacking your mind. You don't want to be ruminating. You don't

want, you know what a ruminating thought is? It's a thought that just goes around and around in a

circle and comes back. You doesn't go anywhere. So I had to keep moving and thank God my wife was

always game. Babe, can you go for a walk? It's the 17th walk today. Sure. Just go walk and pray.

Lord, thank you that you're with me. Lord, thank you. I won't fail. Lord, you're going to see

this however they're good. But as I'm walking, I'm picturing myself with the vest.

You know the yellow vest and Walmart vest? Because I'm thinking, and I'm thinking of myself,

I'm not, you know, I'm getting up in years. I'm not going to be a stock guy. I'm a pastor,

but I can be the greeter. I'll be pastor Walmart and I'll be extra like kind and I'll just wish

everybody a happy Tuesday and maybe I'll get in with some. I could share the gospel, but I'm going

to give it my all and that's just the final season. That's what God had in mind when He created me.

It sounds ridiculous, but in that moment, that was my reality. What did I have to do? I had to

train my mind, focus my mind. How do you stop these negative thoughts? Why did I go for walks?

You cannot stop a negative thought with a positive thought. Impossible. If I can get one thing

concerning guarding your mind, knowing the battlefield is in the mind, if I can get one truth to you,

it's that. So many people think, if I have a negative thought, I'll have a 180 of that positive

thought you're losing, aren't you? It's impossible. What works? I'll show you what works. Count to 10

in your head starting now. Go. Now say your name out loud. What's your name? What happened to your

account? It got messed up. You cannot stop negative thoughts with positive thoughts. You can only

stop negative thoughts with the words that come out of your mouth. You have to start speaking.

You have to start speaking God's truth because the negative thought is actually Satan's lie. How do

you combat Satan's lie with God's truth? Satan came lying to Jesus. Jesus's response was,

it is written. It is written. It is written. Hallelujah. And your life will go in the direction of

your most dominant thought. I'll say it again. Your life, even where you are right now, is pretty much

going in direction with your most dominant thought. And so your mind has to become like a steel trap

and you've got to be speaking. Hallelujah. Four. I kind of went into my fourth point early.

Speak before fear finishes its sentence. Psalm 107, too. The Bible says, let the redeemed of the Lord.

All right, one more time. Let the redeemed of the Lord. Yeah, that's the exhortation. Say

something. That's why we sing that song. Let the poor say. Amen. Let the weak say. Let the ugly say.

He shouted, I look like Pastor Moe. That's actually, I don't know if you got that by the gift of

the Spirit, but that is my confession in the mornings when I will look more like Pastor Moe. I will

look. Hallelujah. Sometimes I repeat some things so much in my mind, I think, or people must be

tired of hearing this. But then, then I talk to you guys and I realize you haven't really heard

me. So I should keep repeating myself. And Paul said to repeat myself is not burdensome, but for

you it is necessary. And this is the thing that I've repeated so many times with illustrations,

with this is the thing. It's this crazy glue demon. The gorilla glue, crazy glue, super glue,

whatever kind of glue you use at home. The one that really works. There is a demon with that kind

of glue and you'll notice whenever you get hit, whenever you're going through a hard time,

he likes to put that on your lips. And why? Because the power is in your mouth and on your tongue.

The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it will lead the

fruit of it. Your very salvation is voice activated. It's half in your heart, half in your mouth.

Even the prescription for how to receive salvation, it's that if you believe in your heart and confess

with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. So you have to be speaking. But when people are

going through it, what's the first thing you notice? They're downcast, they're morose. Hey, what's

wrong? Well, how do you feel? They're not saying anything. And if you're not saying, you're not

creating because you're not agreeing with the Word of God. You have to start speaking. You have to,

you'll feel like you're crazy. The enemy will tell you you're being silly and crazy. But you're

going to do it and you're going to make it through. The good news is you live in New York City,

so if you're muttering on the subway, there's enough crazy people. They'll just think you're

part of NYC. Amen. No one's going to look at you strangely. You might have half the carol to

yourself. There's benefits to talking to yourself. But when I'm going through it, I am not quiet.

And you know what a secret is is that when you're not going through, it still don't be quiet.

But now you're not defensive. Now you're actually offensive and you're speaking and actually

making a headway. But you got to be like David who encouraged himself in the Lord when they were

about to stone him. Now this is something, I got to, this is something that practically I don't

see too many Christians doing. But you got to be one of those that does. You got to be a speaking

spirit. Hallelujah. You know why I said specifically speaking spirit because when you look into the

Hebrew of when God made Adam and the Bible says he made him a living soul. In the Hebrew, there's

a connotation speaking spirit because God is a speaking spirit. And he created the entire universe

with God said God said God said he created with his words. And then he didn't do with this with any

of the animals or the angels, but he made man a speaking spirit with the divine image on him

and the divine ability to co-create with him with the words of his mouth. So don't start, don't stop

speaking. Number five, refuse isolation. Ecclesiastes chapter four verse nine through ten.

And I think it doesn't matter whether you're an introvert or an extrovert when the going really

gets stuff people like to isolate. Like a fox or a cat. There's other animals but I know a fox

or a cat in particular. When they're wounded, when they're hurting, they just move away, they

isolate, they go into a bush, lie down, either heal up or pass. And people are a lot of times like

that. You know, you guys, those of you who aren't actually Christians and involved in other Christian's

lives. And you'll notice when somebody starts going through it all of a sudden, we're so and so,

I don't know. Well, they missed the Sunday. It could be nothing. And they missed two Sundays. And

they come to life group? No. What's going on? And then and then it's always the weirdest answer,

the same answer. So I was like, well, I was really going through it. So I just wanted to be alone.

Well, how did that work out for you? Well, not so good. That's why I'm back telling you about the

decision of how it doesn't work. I'm an only child that would explain a lot of my personality.

You're like, I knew there was something there. Now I know. So I'm used to going out of the

loan. Not only I'm an only child, but raising four stills queens. And by second grade, I was a

latchkey kid with my own keys that come in. I was, I was alone before my parents came. So I'm used

to being alone. I have no problem being alone. Then I became a Christian. And when I would go

through it, I would try to do it alone. Secretly, there was pride there. Because I, you know,

my teenage mind, I kind of saw myself probably with this pride like, I'm like a mother, another Moses.

I'm going to ascend the mountain of the Lord by myself. And when I come off that mountain,

of course, God, you'll get all the glory, but I'm going to get some too.

It'll be me and you. I helped you out with me. Never worked. Every single one of my, I came through

with stories. There's a whole cast of characters, whether you hear about a whole cast of characters

that helped me get through it. Do not isolate yourself. We saw what isolation does back in 2020

when people became very mentally and emotionally unhealthy when they were isolating during COVID.

And I say that that's my pastoral polite way. They became emotionally and mentally unhealthy.

What really happened is they'd done lost their minds.

Do not disappear when you're bleeding. A lot of times people disappear because they feel

unlovedly. Just get around people. The right kind of people though. Not the unsaved people.

The Bible says that you won't prosper. You won't be blessed when you're in the counsel of the

ungodly. But get around people who believe that Jesus is Lord. People who've given their lives to

him. You're not going to find, quote unquote, perfect people, but they're people who name the name

of Christ. Get around them. Just being around them. It'll strengthen you. That's why we have these

home groups, these life groups that have just begun. If you're not a part of a life group,

you have to make it be a part of one. Hallelujah.

I learned to love people. We all have different personalities.

And we all know, this is okay to say. We all know some questions are weird.

Church is a hospital, all right? And so you can't get upset. Hey, there's some patients in the hospital.

There's some people who still seem like they're working progress in the hospital. Yeah.

So not only, but listen to this though, not only are we church of weirdos,

but we've got over 50 nations represented at City Light Church. So we got people from different

cultures, different countries, different jobs. So you're not going to instantly be besties with

every single person in your life group is what I'm saying. That shouldn't matter. Will there be

some weird people? It wouldn't be a life group if there yeah. No, but I'm saying this because

that used to bother me, right? I used to be like, how are we going to grow? When in this life group,

they're so and so in that life group, they're going to like everybody that I pray for days for

you to bring to us five new people and they run them out faster than you're bringing them in.

Lord, heal that person, please or I will.

The Lord had to say, I got, I got, don't worry about the cosmetics. Don't worry about how you

appear and you just love people. You love them where they're at and actually accept people.

So you're not going to get perfection anywhere you go, but what you're going to get at least nine out

of 10 times is a Christian. Because not everybody who comes to City Light by the way is a Christian.

Who would be terrible if everybody was how we get everybody saved or anybody saved. A healthy

church has people who are looking who are lost who are trying to figure it out. They'll be at life

group two. You're welcome to come. You should come. But be around believers. They will strengthen

you. Don't do it alone. Amen. Number six, surrender control completely. This is a big step.

Proverbs 16-9. Stop focusing on just the outcome. You're not responsible for the outcome. You're

responsible to be obedient. Not the outcome. Part of the reason why you may be exhausted is that

control is very exhausting. If you're fatigued, can I do a little confession here as is my

custom? Because it seems like the more I say things that are embarrassing to me, the better the

church does. So I am naturally prone to control because I wasn't only child. I watch how my kids

are growing up. You know what I used to do? You used to have Star Wars figures. I like Star Wars.

I.G.I. Joe figures. I don't like them as much, but Star Wars. Transformers later Legos.

And when I would play with them, you know, I'd create a story in my head. My parents still

remind me of this and tease me about it. I'd create, you know, a story. And then I would leave

them, let's say I'm being called for lunch. I would leave them and go for hours and come back and

then continue the story. Like there was a commercial break. Sometimes I would leave them for days and

come back. And they were just, but what I'm saying is the figures were just how I left them.

You know why? Because I didn't have a brother or sister to come and go,

or just start playing and I continue my story. And I look at my kids, even though they're four

years apart, one's a boy, one's a girl. There's no way they're doing that. And I didn't even have my

own, I didn't have my own room till the fifth grade. Slipped on the floor on the mattress next to my

parents. But I still had that. I'd find a corner in the house. They have their own rooms. Doesn't

matter. Hey kids, you got to respect each other. Doesn't matter. One is playing. They don't want to go

there. And they will mess up the story. So because of that, because I had this control over my

environment, I've been told by some that I could, I could tend, tend to be a little controlling.

You know, I'm just, I like, I like my teeth. Not just crossed, but crossed how I like to cross them.

And early on, you know, the Lord came to me and said, you can, you can have a church where you have

total control. It'll be very, very small and you'll have total control. Or you can have a large

growing church and be out of control pick. And I went, ah, okay. But it's this way, it's this way

in life that has to be a part where you give up control. You start small, you got to start small

because you don't trust them enough to do it all at once. But as you see that he's trustworthy,

you will then give more and more control over to him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And he

did this work. That's why when we went through COVID, I was able to make it through COVID with a smile.

Because if you were like bent on controlling everything, you ended up in a mental asylum during

COVID. Because you had no control. Especially speaking specifically in New York City.

I could elaborate more on that, but let's not go there again. Control is exhausting, but trust

is stabilizing. And when you release the focus on the outcome, that anxiety it loses its oxygen.

Number seven, this is important. Remember who you are.

Second Corinthians 416. In 2009, November of 2009, I went through one of the most difficult seasons

of my life. My former pastor, Pastor Tom Hollahan, the pastor I had while I was in college in Long

Island, he came and lived with me for a month. It was very, very difficult. I could not preach.

You say, it seems like you always like take off when you're having a difficult time. You have no

idea how many times I've preached during difficult times. Hey man, but I mean I could not preach,

I could not eat. I could not anything. I was flat lining. And he spent, he loved me enough

to live with me during the saddest, sorry estate of my life. And he's just like a natural

encourager. And on the 30th day when he had to go back to Florida, he said, he called me brosky.

That's why now I just thought it was like, you know, I'm like in my early 30s, he's in his mid 50s,

and he's from Long Island, right? And he calls me brosky. I thought it was the weirdest,

most antiquated thing to call someone. So now if I ever call you brosky, it's because I really like

you because I think it's such a hilarious term. And he puts his hand on my shoes as listen brosky.

You're forgetting who you are. Don't forget who you are. And it's true because I could just see

myself in light of my failure. I could just see myself in light of my present situation. And he's

saw it. He would pump me up all the time. I thought, you know, it'd be like you're anointed,

you got a gift to preach, you got, you know, God has done a deep work in you. I thought, you

know how when you have kids, and sometimes, you know, you give them a compliment, but you know,

you're hamming it up a little bit. Are we allowed to say that? We should be allowed. You know,

like they draw something and it's a good drawing, but you act like it's a Rembrandt. Oh,

this is, this is going right on my refrigerator forever. I thought he was doing that to me.

But he was actually now in retrospect. He was serious, but I couldn't see it. I could just see

myself in light of my situation. And then when he left, that's what echoed in my head. Don't

forget who you are. What did he mean by that? I know who I am. I didn't forget who I am, but I did.

I did. Not even my accomplishments. That's nothing. But who we are, something we all share in

common, when you're going through it, you tend to see yourself in light of your situation,

in light of the crisis. Your crisis, your situation, your hard time does not define you.

It is not who you are. You are a child of God, first and foremost. You are beloved of the Father.

You are holy and accepted in the beloved. You have been made perfect in him. You are a saint of

God. You have an inheritance with God. Remind yourself who you are and don't forget who you are.

It's the same way when you fall in sin. Oh, I lied. The devil says you're a liar. No,

I'm not a liar. I'm a Christian who lied. You can apply that with any sin. You are not,

don't make your identity around the sin. Don't make your identity around the crisis.

Hallelujah. Therefore, we do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward

man is being renewed day by day. So hard seasons will attack your identity, but you are not your

fatigue. You are not your setback. You are not your current weakness. The inward man can still thrive

and be strong while the outward situation shakes. Can you say amen? Amen. Number eight.

The point is James found in James 1 verses 2 through 3. Let me just say this and confess to you

James 1:2–3

that of all the encouraging things that Christians tell you when you're really going through it and

suffering, this one was my least favorite. In fact, this one would make me angry.

Because it starts off good, right? My brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials.

Do you know what I care? Yeah? What good thing am I going to get out of this dump truck

fest of excrement that I'm going through right now? Count it all, Joe. Really? What do I get out of it?

Show me. What's in verse 3? Knowing that the testing of your faith produces what?

Patience. That never got me excited. If you got you excited, congratulations. You're very holy,

very, very just eternity-minded individual. But when you feel like your intestines are coming

out of your nostrils and the promises, hey, you'll have more patience afterwards. That was never

that exciting for me. But that's because I didn't understand what biblical patience is.

Because my only introduction to the word patience was like, I'm like, mom, are the cookies ready?

Patience. Are the cookies ready? Patience. Patience. Biblical patience is not the ability to wait.

Hallelujah. Patience equals a steady, immovable endurance under pressure. Patience is the spirit,

the Holy Spirit formed ability to remain steady, faithful and unshaken, under prolonged pressure

without quitting, collapsing or compromising. So why does one need the supernatural ability to not

compromise that cave in? Because what God wants to get to you will require broad shoulders.

Hallelujah. I feel city light is alive. I feel the learning right now. I see him moving in our

church. I know he has plans for us. What's he waiting on for something else to be formed in us?

Our job is not to be like, okay, we're waiting on you, Lord. No, he's waiting on us to get

with the program. And as we give way to his molding and shaping, we're going to enter more and more

into our destiny. But I've never been as convinced as I am right now that we are in the perfect

center of his perfect will. And there's going to be some things that he does that's really

surprises, but we're right on schedule. Amen. That's not really how I say schedule. I felt extra

fancy. Hallelujah. So embrace the trial. And embrace what he's forming in you.

If you're going through it right now, you probably want to throw your shoe at me.

You're half encouraged and half angry at this point. But you'll know what I mean once you're out.

Amen. Number nine, this is a very important point. I say that like the other aid weren't really.

Number nine is found in Ephesians 6, verse 13. Here's the number nine.

Ephesians 6:13

Just stand. Yes, God is a God of movement. God is a God of promotion. God is a God of increase.

That's what he wants to do in your life. But there are seasons when you're under the gun,

when you're suffering, where you're not going to make any progress. So what's the victory?

The victory in those times is just to not regress, not to retreat, not to go backwards.

Just stand. Hallelujah. So if you're going through it and you're like, I don't feel like anything's

happening. My question is, are you standing? Yes, you're winning. You're winning and that you're not

retreating. Just stand. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to

withstand an evil day and having done all. Just stand. Amen. Sometimes victory's not advancing.

It's just not moving backward. Hallelujah. And number 10. And we're going to be closing up and

receiving communion shortly after this. Number 10 is believe that glory is on the other side.

Romans 8, 18. Here's what the Apostle Paul says, where I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. We also read in Hebrews,

we just read that as point number one, that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before

Him. What was the pain of the cross? Have you ever read one of those medical accounts of crucifixion?

You should. I read those, you know, when you were a teenager in the faith in the 90s, at some

point in youth group, some youth pastor was going to go through the whole crucifixion from a physical

perspective. And from a physical perspective, it's one of the most gruesome. All right, guys,

when I said that, I didn't mean like, you're scary me. I feel like the end time soldiers are going,

oh, I appreciate the militancy. Man, you guys are good and efficient. Just hang on. Communion was ready.

I wasn't even prepping you. I was just letting the people know. There's going to be communion.

Thank you, Jesus. Where was the crucifixion? The crucifixion. The physical pain is immense.

Jesus was never, I believe, concerned about the physical pain when he actually, the moment had

anxiety about, when he cried out, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Because the spiritual

pain was way greater than the physical pain. You say, what spiritual pain that he would for the first

time in history be separated from God the Father. You say, he was separated from God the Father. Yes,

he who knew no sin was made sin for us. God the Son, Jesus Christ was made into sin. He took

on the nature of Satan. He took on the nature of sin. He became a cursed thing. You know, I've

had people go, how could you call my Lord? Really? Lord and Savior, cursed it. I'm not calling him,

that the Bible says, cursed it is anyone who hangs on a tree. He became a curse so you could

be blessed. Some people, they view everything through emotions. That makes me feel uncomfortable.

I'm so glad the Bible really doesn't care how you feel. The Bible cares about what's true.

This emotional present, how could you call my Lord and say, hey, if you're a curse? I'm not saying

present day. He became that. He became a curse. And he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He's not forsaken now, but in that moment as he became sin, what was previously consistent fellowship,

consistent connection to the Father was severed so that your connection to the Father would never

be severed. He became cursed so you could be blessed. He became sin so you could be the righteousness

of God. Hallelujah. But that's what the pain was. That's what he dreaded in that moment in the

garden. But the Bible says, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. So he saw, you know what

he saw? He saw you. He saw your face. He knew that you would come to the faith, that you would

be born again, that you would join him in heaven. And for the joy of the family of God being drawn

from all four corners of the earth, he gave his life a ransom for many. Hallelujah. So know that what

you're going through, there actually is a prize at the end. Amen. There is. Hallelujah.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And you must know that it's not a freight train.

It's sunshine. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

I just like every head bowed, every eye closed. I want you to know that present pain,

what you're going through, we may not feel like it's temporary, but it's temporary.

And your future, a sure glory is permanent. This hard time is just a chapter in your book,

but victory is your destiny. But right now with every head bowed, every eye closed, I want to give

everyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I want to ask you a question.

If you were to die today, God forbid, but if you were to die, do you know for certain, be on a

shadow of a doubt that you would go to heaven? The Bible says you can know. I want to lead you in a

prayer where you make Jesus your Lord and Savior, you trust in Him for His righteousness, and you

ask Him to forgive your sins. The Bible says you will be born again and you will be saved.

If you can't answer with a resounding confident yes, I want you to lift your hand up at the count of

three. So the question is, do you know for certain if you were to die today that you would go to heaven,

if you want your sins forgiven and you want to know Jesus on the count of three, raise your hand,

one, two, three, lift up your hand. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,

thank you, sir. Who else? Yeah, thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Anybody else?

All right, we're all going to pray together now. What we're going to pray is a prayer where you

acknowledge His Lordship over your life and you acknowledge His crucifixion and resurrection

and eternal life is your portion. You say, what must I do? What must I do? It's not more

must I do. It's what I must believe. So let's all pray this prayer together. Those of you who

raised your hands though, I want you to be extra loud. Sometimes people who raised their hands

are really feeling it and then they're silent. Say it extra loud. Say this dear Lord Jesus.

I believe in you. I believe you died on the cross in my place. I repent of my sin.

I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus. I'm adopted

into the family of God and I am a friend of God. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Be my Lord

and lead me in the way I should go. In Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah.

Now those of you who raised your hands fill out a connection card and let us know. You say I was

coming back to the Lord. Let us know. Ask some questions. We don't have, we're not your

hope as witnesses. We don't have a team of unpaid elders that we're going to send to your house now.

Because they have to work 20 hours a week or they don't make heaven.

So great. I got to tell you our staff budget would be half if we had that system. Really nice

system to save money. But no, we have a biblical system. And so, and also we don't believe in

control and manipulation. So in other words, we can't run after you. You have to meet us halfway.

You have to let us know, hey, I exist. I'm alive. My name is Susie and I was in that service.

And then we can reach out. And we're not going to, we're actually almost too careful to not

invade your life. We'll reach out to how much you open the door. So if you want us to help open

the door wide, if you want us to help a little, you know, you keep the chain on the door, you'll be like,

hey, I have two questions and that's it. Keep the granny chain on the door, you know.

But fill out a card. You say, what should I do next? Be a part of a life group. Keep coming

every Sunday. Make some Christian friends. May the second get baptized. I'm already excited

about me. That's the first Saturday in May. We're having baptisms. I'm excited about our baby

girl who at just seven years old can't stop talking about baptisms. She loves Jesus so much.

So make a decision to get baptized. You said, I just got saved exactly. You're late to get

baptized if you're getting baptized. May the second. Sorry, partner, lateness. Let's hand out

communion. When you receive communion, hang on to the elements. And we'll all receive the elements

together. I'm going to do my 1990s and 2000s talk show. How you do that? I'm going to record it

and that's going to be the training video for all communion handing outing. All right,

somebody tell me what happens during communion? What should be happening? Any takers?

Like, what are we thinking about? What is the point? You can just say a sentence or shout it out

if you don't want me to shove a microphone in your face. The blood of Jesus. We're focusing

on the blood of Jesus. What else? What is the benefit? You know, that song, I think it's from the 80s.

What have you done for me lately? It seems like an ugly carnal selfish song,

but it is a fair question to ask. Since secretly, that's what you're all thinking about. Like,

I haven't taught on finances in ages. I need to teach on finances. And there's always one or two

people who get upset. Why do you talk about money? I'm sorry. You spend 99% of your time chasing this

thing so you cannot die on planet earth. This thing called money. And I want to give you a biblical

perspective. You get upset. You spend 99% of your life chasing it in one form or another. Amen.

So it's important. So what else is important is understanding what is the benefit? It's not selfish.

The scripture says, bless the Lord on my soul. And don't forget about any of his benefits.

And when you see a Christian struggling oftentimes, they haven't read the fine print. They don't

know the Benny package. You got a job. You check out those benefits. Oh, look, they pay for my

gym membership. Oh, health insurance. Wow. And so many people don't know the benefits of Christianity.

They don't know the benefits of communion. There is a purpose. That's why Satan has attacked

communion and oftentimes made it the most depressing time during a church service.

But it's not supposed to bring depression and sadness. This is God's medicine. This is God's

victory. Communion is us partaking. Here's the phrase Paul used. We're partaking of Christ. What

does that mean? We're partaking of his victory. We're reaffirming the covenant. And the covenant says

he is with you. The covenant says all your sins are forgiven. The covenant says you have victory.

The covenant says you are healed. You're not the sick trying to get healed. You are the healed

of the Lord. You are the prosperous of the Lord. So examine yourself. What do I examine myself?

What part of your life does not look like the reality of what Jesus did for your life?

So the reality is your cup is so overflowing. You're blessed. You're healthy. You're

whole. That's what your life should look like. And if it doesn't, examine yourself.

Oh, look, there's a gap between where I'm at right now and what the Lord promised me.

And trust is you receive communion. He closes that gap. Is this making sense? Hallelujah. He will

fill up whatever is lacking on your part. So if you need healing in your body, go ahead and eat

to your healing. If you need healing in your bank account, go ahead and eat to your prosperity.

You need healing in your emotions. Receive soul restoration as you partake of Jesus.

This is not an empty, wrote, religious thing. This is the power of God. So go ahead and partake of

the body of Jesus that was bruised for you. And go ahead and partake of the blood of Jesus

that was shed for you. And receive all of the benefits of the cross and resurrection of Jesus

Christ. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Amen. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice where he has made me glad.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord. Well, we're going to honor the Lord with our tides and offerings. Thank you, Jesus.

I was just watching a service where I saw something I haven't seen in many years. The buckets

were being passed out. And it's only been like six, seven years that we haven't had buckets,

but it reminded me of, wow, we used to do the bucket thing. And I guess the bucket thing is for

people who want to give cash because most people give digitally now. Of course, COVID expedited that

with contactless giving. But then I thought about how funny that was with the, I told my dad,

by the way, who hates the offering. He's got a long way to go, but my dad was the offering. He's

like the demons. I said, we got rid of the buckets. Oh, good. I always hated those buckets.

Right. Because it's, it is a weird thing. And then like, let's say you're giving digitally,

people set up automatic giving. People have given on the way to service because you can give it

any time really. Now that it's so easy. And then maybe you don't, you always pass the bucket.

And you're like, man, maybe everyone thinks maybe pastures staring right at me. Think,

can I never give? Meanwhile, I'm one of the biggest givers in the church, but I give anonymously

digitally. What's the point of anything that I'm saying? My point is that you're giving onto the Lord.

And you're giving with no strings attached. But always have your faith that your harvest is coming

and that your giving creates prosperity in your life. I feel like that old Psalmist who said,

I once was young and now I'm old, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging

bread. It's fun being 50. You have a lot more history to draw from. Now I'm 50 and I can go,

oh, nearly four decades of serving the Lord. And so what have I learned? Well, here's what I've

learned that the most generous people I know are the most blessed people I know. They're the most

alive people I know. They have the most of the Zoe abundant life of God. I've shared with you my

testimony for those of you willing and who care enough to listen over and over again.

I've given things that at the time I thought I was insane. I should be locked up for giving

only to have the Lord show me that I cannot give him, that he will always get me back.

So I just because I love you, I want to say this, don't be a scrawny Christian. Don't be someone

who has a scrawny spirit. I was always looking to see what they can get. When you start looking to

see who you can bless and how you can give, there'll be such an overwhelming,

overwhelming harvest. Hallelujah.

You know, it was actually for me, I had to shake this off. For me, it was getting a little

embarrassing in the last few months because for me in my head, there was always gifts for me here.

I was walking away. I felt like this is like one of those weird children. I'm always going

with boxes and bags and then I thought for the first 20 years, I never got any gifts.

Never got a bag, hardly a card, nothing. Never talked about it, but I didn't even notice it

until I started going back to my car with bags and boxes to where I'm almost thinking, man,

Pastor Moe, can you get me a armor bearer to carry the bags?

Right, baby, you were a part of that. It was just hardly a slap on the back.

And then without me saying a word, people just started blessing me.

And I went to the Lord about it and he said, well, you've shown when you were getting no bags,

no cards, no gifts, no penicassal handshakes, you kept giving, you kept giving.

And now your harvest is here. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

And I just say that it's just as an anecdotal thing.

I pray for you that God would multiply every seed,

so that your cup would overflow and that no matter what happens in the world,

you would financially increase more and more and more and more.

And if you want prayer for anything at all, the ministry team is in that blue lit section

and they would love to pray with you and for you.

We're going to worship God with one more song. Let's all stand and if you want prayer,

once again, go now to that blue lit section. And the ministry team will love on you.

They will pray with you and for you. The whole process can just take a couple of minutes.

You might be well, what should I expect? I'm going for not the regular customers now.

I'm going for that person who's heard about this ministry team four times and has never gone over

there. Go. You won't regret it. Go and have somebody else. Just lay hands on you and pray with you.

There's an anointing and a power released through the laying out of hands.

Have a blessed week. Shout one more time with me. A big hallelujah to Jesus. Hallelujah!

Be blessed, City Light.

This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message,

or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church,

visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com.

Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you.

We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God

loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you

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